Kindle vs Nook vs.....?

[jwinter]

Bummer.  That's one reason I like my nook -- no buttons (or I should say, none that you really need to use, other than the power button and the home key).

[Ataraxia]

Bummer.  That's one reason I like my nook -- no buttons (or I should say, none that you really need to use, other than the power button and the home key).

What does it use instead? Touch?

[jwinter]

Yes, you just tap or swipe the screen on either side, and it goes forward and backward in the book.  The original 1st generation nook, now discontinued, had an issue where the page forward button would tend to crack -- since then, they've pretty much engineered out the use of such a button -- the b&w nooks still have them, albeit redesigned (though I never use them) and the nook colors and tablets have no buttons at all, other than the single home button which brings up an options bar.  It's all touchscreen.

[DavidW]

I have the new Kindle Paperwhite and it is awesome!  High resolution=nicer reading fonts namely baskerville and palatino.  Much better than the crappy typewriter-esque font kindles have been using.  That was one of the two things I liked on the nook better.  The other was page numbers... but amazon finally has the best system.  Amazon learns your reading rate and tells you how much time you have left to read in the chapter or the novel.  It is awesome!

Also the led light can be made to make the background look white without glowing, it is better than the Nook glo.  This is all I wanted the light to do, and I'm glad to see that it doesn't give reading an electronic look to it.

[DavidRoss]

I have the new Kindle Paperwhite and it is awesome!  High resolution=nicer reading fonts namely baskerville and palatino.  Much better than the crappy typewriter-esque font kindles have been using.  That was one of the two things I liked on the nook better.  The other was page numbers... but amazon finally has the best system.  Amazon learns your reading rate and tells you how much time you have left to read in the chapter or the novel.  It is awesome!

Also the led light can be made to make the background look white without glowing, it is better than the Nook glo.  This is all I wanted the light to do, and I'm glad to see that it doesn't give reading an electronic look to it.

Tempting ... but the frugal buddha in my soul doesn't want to replace a perfectly good and well-functioning Kindle just to get a "new! improved!" one.

Which reminds me of that old saying: "If you meet the buddha on the road, kill him and buy a new Kindle!"

[Brian]

DavidW and anyone else:

It looks like my new job might entail a long (45 minute each way) commute via train. While I'm very happy to be doing this by train rather than car after averaging 50 miles of driving per workday for the past year, 45 minutes is a very long time to be on a train.

Since I wouldn't be driving, I'd be tempted to use this time productively. If I wanted to spend the time writing, and/or listening to good ol' classical music, should I take the Paperwhite off my wishlist and replace it with a tablet of some kind? If I want to type, touchscreen or stylus or both? Should I skip a tablet and go with one of those tiny laptops? Should I decide the hell with ambitions and get back to good old-fashioned book-reading? Are there other useful ways to kill time my technology-bound mind can't dream up right now?

So I guess ultimately my question for the general assembly is, if you had 90 minutes a day on a train, what would you do with it?

[Karl Henning]

I'm not going to be representative, but: I should spend about 40 of those minutes composing : )

[Brian]

I'm not going to be representative, but: I should spend about 40 of those minutes composing : )

I would too! Do you carry music paper (forgot the word for it) on your bus though?

[Karl Henning]

I do; always have a thin three-ring binder with MS. paper in it, with me.

[Mirror Image]

I recently acquired a Kindle Fire and I'm really enjoying mine. I've been playing Angry Birds on it. Fun stuff!

[DavidW]

I would suggest an ultrabook or a macbook air Brian.  Anyone that gets an ipad for typing inevitably buys a keyboard to use with it.  That setup is inconvenient on your lap (unless you have tables on your train) since they are of two pieces.  That is why you should go with a small laptop.

[DavidRoss]

One of these


one of these


and one of these


Or, just get one of these and make do with adequate but less than ideal functionality as reader, music player, and productivity tool!

[drogulus]

      Kindle Paperwhite looks like the winner in the sub-tablet reader competition. I might go for the no ad version ($139).

[DavidW]

Yeah Ernie the ads are real annoying.  It used to cost $40 to remove the ads, but since they recently dropped to $20 ($15 on the Fire HD) I removed them from my kindles.  I think the price went down after the reviewers gave amazon alot of guff for having ads on their new tablet.

I just today saw that an update added freaking ads to the menu on my tv.  LG why would I dump the tv that I already have from you to buy another?  Why do you think it's cool to thrust that advertising on a tv set that I paid $1200 for!?!!  I have paid enough to not be insulted by this total bs!!!

[DavidW]

Oh wait it could be worse... Panasonic thrusts ads on their FLAGSHIP PLASMA on the main screen itself everytime you turn on the tv.  Just wow!

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-33199_7-57450197-221/how-to-ban-the-banner-ads-from-panasonic-smart-tvs/

Could you imagine paying $3400 for a tv and having ads covering the bottom of your screen everytime you turned it on?

[drogulus]

     I'm seriously thinking my next TV will be a monitor, for a few reasons. I have a media box/streamer, I want something I can use with a PC (4:4:4, minimal lag), and I don't need a tuner.

     Therefore:

     

     _{(clink the plink)}
     
      It's IPS, it's 1080P, it will have the same performance as the legendary 450s of previous years, and unlike the current generation 60 Hz LGs it will have a full menu of pro level picture adjustments. The blacks will not be great, but in every other respect this will be a superior unit.

[DavidW]

The greatest flat panels ever made, the Pioneer Kuro are technically monitors because they don't have tv tuners.  Don't know if that is the whole series, but obviously monitors can rock!

I have an LG led, and despite my griping the color accuracy is phenomenal, and the IPS panel is awesome for uniformity and response!  The native contrast of LG lcds are not too hot, mine has local dimming which fixes the problem.  Don't know if the one that you want has that feature, but I think that the uniformity is more important than the absolute depth of black. 

The way I address that issue, and help my eyes is an led strip.  Attach it to the back of your tv and boom! bias lighting makes the colors look more vivid, blacks blacker and less eye strain for you.

[drogulus]

     I might be wrong that this model has the advanced calibration features, I couldn't find them in the manual. I know they stripped lots of good stuff out of the current 60 Hz models (the 460/560's). But I'm willing to bet that these big monitor's won't need much adjustment.

     

[DavidW]

     I might be wrong that this model has the advanced calibration features, I couldn't find them in the manual. I know they stripped lots of good stuff out of the current 60 Hz models (the 460/560's). But I'm willing to bet that these big monitor's won't need much adjustment.

   

If you use cinema mode not much will have to be tweaked.  Picture wizard told me that color was off by 1 notch, brightness by 2 and contrast by 5.  So excepting contrast the default settings are fine.  Well I don't know how accurate warm is for color temp.  It looks accurate, but my sensor drifted and I tossed it.

[DavidW]

RIP Kindle DX. 

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2012/10/13/say-goodnight-gracie-the-kindle-dx-is-out-of-stock-at-amazon/#more-40777

It appears to have been discontinued.